By: Mary Cavaliere

Thirty-six days and eighteen contestants, and finally we have a deserving winner at the end of this season’s Survivor (I still haven’t gotten over Parvati winning last season).

With war paint and tribal gear intact, the first immunity challenge was a difficult one.  The contestants had to dig themselves under a wall and make their way to an elevated plank that looked like a maze, and if they were skilled enough to make it to the end without falling, they had to head through a real maze with Gabonese huts and retrieve puzzle pieces.  Back and forth they went until all pieces were retrieved and they were able to build a replica of a Gabonese hut.  Bob won immunity for the fifth time in a row.

At tribal council the plan was to vote Susie out but Kenny did quite a bit of mouthing off that cost him another round with the remaining survivors.  He went on and on about how Bob wasn’t a man of his word (look who’s talking) and went back on his promise to give him the immunity idol if he was at risk (during the last tribal council).  Bob changed his mind because  he was informed that Kenny’s plan was to get the idol from Bob so he wouldn’t use it himself and then he could be blindsided and eliminated at tribal council.  Bob didn’t break his word, he just played the game differently based on this new information.  Kenny should have kept his mouth shut and accepted the fate that he created, but instead he sealed his fate of the game by revealing even further was a snake in the grass he is.

The remaining five tribe members paid respects to torches and masks that were named for each of the fourteen survivors that had already departed.  I loved when they got to Corinne and Randy, because there wasn’t much that could be said by anyone that was positive about either of these two. 

The final immunity challenge consisted of 200 wooden tiles.  Each tribe member had to build a house of cards that would be ten feet tall, or the highest house after thirty minutes of competing.  Everyone was shocked that Susie won this challenge.  Susie was more surprised than any of us.  It was not the way I wanted it to turn out, but Survivor rarely goes the way we want or expect.

So it looked like Bob was the next to go but Sugar couldn’t come to terms with voting him out.   Everyone expected that Susie, Matty, and Sugar would vote for Bob, eliminating him from the competition, but as usual Sugar came up with a different plan and by choosing to vote for Matty along with Bob, a tie would ensue and fate could play its role in who would be eliminated at the very last tribal council.  Knowing this in advance, Bob practiced lighting fire assuming the tie-breaker challenge would have to do with fire, and he was right.  He won the fire challenge and Matty was the last tribal council elimination.

The final three survivors, Susie, Sugar, and Bob, were treated to a beautiful brunch prior to appearing in front of the jury for their closing arguments about why they should win the million.  Susie’s reasons were shabby at best.  Sugar played a darn good game on a strategic level but wasn’t always a full contributor at the team challenges.  Bob played his best game during the challenges but never made any real strategic moves to win until the last couple of weeks.  In all honesty, Bob would never have made it to the end without Crystal’s help so for that kindness alone I felt Sugar should become the sole survivor.
The jury was brutal with the likes of Corinne and Randy.   Telling Sugar she was unemployed and uneducated, as well as “too emotional” after recently losing her Dad, was totally uncalled for and didn’t make Sugar look bad, it only made Corinne look like the moron that she is.  I thought Sugar’s reaction of flipping Corinne off was the best way to handle the situation.  Without any words Sugar was able to tell Corinne that her opinion of her didn’t matter, and it doesn’t.  When an individual is as mean and condescending as Corinne, it is usually a mask for true self-esteem issues.  When you are truly a confident and accomplished individual, there is no need for you to put another person down just to elevate yourself.  Let’s face it, this is how Corinne lives her life on a daily basis so it speaks volumes about who she is as an individual.  She may be prideful and cocky now but at some point in her life someone is going to cut her off at the knees and create so much pain in her life that she will eventually see the error of her ways and make a change.  But it will take a bit of MATURITY for that to happen.

As for Randy, there are no words to describe him other than the REAL Biggest Loser on television.   All that hatred and anger and bitterness is hard to watch.  I’m sure the Survivor execs feel he’s “good television”, but honestly, I would enjoy the show much more if they didn’t cast  such hateful people.  Sure it’s fun to watch different personalities try to blend and to watch the controversies that surface, but no one likes watching someone as pathetic as this guy.  I don’t believe for one minute that at one time he was fun and likeable and had girlfriends.  Maybe his intellectual I.Q. is high but his emotional I.Q. is at a zero.

I’m happy for Bob that he won, but a little disappointed that Sugar didn’t even get one vote.  I do believe we’ll be seeing Jessica (Sugar) Kiper again.  Hopefully Survivor will serve as a springboard for her much in the same way it did for Elizabeth Hasselback (who is now a well-know co-host on The View).   Sugar is absolutely beautiful inside and out and there is no doubt in my mind that television viewers will want to see more of her in the near future. 

You can read more of Mary’s television blogs at www.myspace.com/italiangirl57
 
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